In a bipartisan move, House Representatives just approved an amendment that would create the new Space Force as a department under the Air Force, moving the new military service one step closer to reality. Reps. Jim Cooper and Mike Rogers say the amendment approved is nearly identical to the Space Corps proposal they made in 2017, something they proposed because they felt the Air Force was underperforming in the realm of space.
The move was part of the week’s blitz to mark up the House’s version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
The NDAA markup process basically determines the size of the Pentagon’s budget for the coming year.
The amendment was approved by the House Armed Services Committee as a better option than a billion plan presented to Congress by former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. The Senate’s vision of the Space Force will run taxpayers .4 million but will have to reconcile in some way with the house version of the branch.
Under the Cooper-Rogers proposal, the Space Force will be commanded by a Commandant, a four-star Air Force general who will sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Their Space Force is less about creating a new system from scratch and more focused on reorganizing existing space assets to clear out the bureaucracy and function in a more efficient, cost-effective way than previous proposals.
Because if the USAF knows anything, it’s cost-effective efficiency, like these 00 coffee mugs.
The White House’s original plan called for the Space Force to be an entirely separate branch of the military but run into significant opposition in both Congress and the Pentagon, due to the potential cost of creating such a force. In February 2019, President Trump signed a directive that called for the formation of the Space Force inside the Air Force, much the same way the Marine Corps is a department of the Navy.
Few in Washington argue that a more robust plan for the United States military’s role in space is necessary, but they do argue about the best way to create such a force, how to operate it, and how much it should cost. The Cooper-Rogers amendment could remove one of the most significant roadblocks to the creation of the service.